The number of collisions that occurred in 2024 at the intersection of Hunt Club Road and Riverside Drive, the most in Ottawa. Of those collisions, it turns out that the largest number of accidents happen on Thursdays at around 4:00 pm. 

The chief executive officer of the National Capital Commission has been reappointed for four more years. The revitalized River House was a success during his first term, and the upcoming tasks are rebuilding LeBreton Flats and the Gatineau waterfront.

– Steven MacKinnon, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, on his announcement of a sixth bridge across the Ottawa River, to be located over Kettle Island between Montée Paiement and Aviation Parkway. Construction is expected between 2032 and 2034.

No meetings Monday

▪️Member of Provincial Parliament for Carleton, Goldie Ghamari, will not be running in the current election. Elected twice as a Progressive Conservative, Ghamari was kicked out of caucus for meeting with Tommy Robinson, the founder of the English Defence League in Britain. In a statement, she wrote ‘"Please rest assured that this is a not a “goodbye”. It's just “see you later”.

▪️The Ottawa Police Service is accepting applications for the 2025 Thomas G Flanagan SC Scholarship Award. Applications are being accepted from Indigenous and racialized women looking to join the Ottawa Police Service. The $2,000 prize will be forwarded to the successful applicant’s chosen post-secondary school.

News to THE OTTAWAN: The post nominal SC on the former police chief’s name stands for Star of Courage, awarded by the Governor General in 1980 after Flanagan persuaded two bandits to give up their hostages and guns.

▪️Artist Jennifer Dickson (1936-2025). Renowned for her hand-tinted etchings, prints, photographs, and watercolour paintings, Dickson had 60 exhibitions in six countries. Her advocacy for artists overlooked by the National Art Gallery was instrumental in the creation of the Ottawa Art Gallery.

▪️Shawn ‘Simmer’ Simpson  (1968 – 2025). Simpson was well loved as a broadcaster with sports radio TSN 1200, a position he took after a front office career with the Washington Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League. His hockey career began with the Gloucester Rangers.

▪️Every week, Stromanker finds all the best deals in the grocery store flyers and posts them on Ottawa Reddit. ‘Best loss-leaders of the week (IMHO): $2/10lb potatoes at No Frills, and $1.44/3lb apples at Super C (the latter on Fri-Sat only)’.

▪️Rogers Community Channel 22 personality Tom Green has been interviewed in the Ottawa Citizen. There is not much new here, we’re just mentioning it for completeness.

▪️ Check out the LüX sound and light experience by Ottawa Tourism, on Sparks street today and tomorrow. 

▪️ The Canadian Museum of History explores the world of that humble Canadian icon, the beaver. Included with your museum admission until March 16. 

▪️ The Canadian Culinary Championships’ Mystery Wine competition will see the contestants from restaurants across Canada creating meals from local ingredients to pair with an unknown wine. 

▪️Build snowmen outside the ByTown Museum, then head inside to learn about the history of the city and enjoy a complimentary hot drink. All weekend at 1 Canal Lane. 

▪️ If Winterlude is usually a bit too frantic for you, try the Relaxed Night Out: there’s a silent disco, large scale games, maker/craft spaces, and more quiet and reflective activities for a lower-key celebration of Ottawa’s winter festival. 

▪️ In Vanier, Anina’s Café is offering an evening of Tarot & Cocktails. 

▪️ Charcuterie, a craft cocktail, and murder are on the menu at the Unitarian House of Ottawa Killer Cocktails Murder Mystery fundraiser. 

▪️ Sample alcohol-free drinks from Collective Arts Brewery and Bicycle Craft Brewery at Maker House’s January THIRSTY First-Non-Alcoholic Tasting Event.

▪️ Beau’s All Natural Brewing combines an East Coast Shed Party with an Open Mic. Bring your own instruments. 

▪️ Tonight’s lineup at the Ottawa Winter Jazz Festival: Hilario Duran Trio, Nitroturtle, Don Byron Solo, Jocelyn Gould, and Tara Kannangara. 

▪️ You don’t need any experience to try out the Learn to Swing Danceat 174 Wilbrod St. 

▪️ ByTowne Cinema: The Brutalist, Hard Truths 

▪️ Mayfair Theatre: The Room Next Door, Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story, The Substance 

Gigs

▪️ The Low Profiles. Night Oat

▪️ The Bluestone Collective, Derecho Party. Avant-Garde Bar

▪️ Indiepop post-punk alt 00s New Wave. 27 Club

▪️ Big Shiny Tunes Live. House of TARG

▪️ Bronson Novella. LIVE on Elgin

▪️ Groove Society. Poa Tiki Bar

▪️ The Groovebug. Irene’s Pub

▪️ It’s probably best not to bring the kids to Epidermis Circus: The Weirdest Puppet Show You’ve Ever Seen, what with its adult content, puppet suicide, and swearing.

▪️ Road Trip: As we reported yesterday, Ice Cream for Breakfast Day is back. For the occasion, Arnprior-based Mallards Milk Bar has thoughtfully combined flavours like Fruitloops breakfast cereal, Maple Blueberry Pancakes, and Banana Nut with its locally crafted ice cream. Wear your pyjamas for extra fun as you enjoy the cold stuff, plus cartoons in their side room, starting at 9:00 am. 

▪️ Today at Ottawa Winter Jazz Festival: Local legend Yolande Laroche, the Don Byron & Michael Occhipinti Quartet, The 33z play Quincy Jones, the Virginia MacDonald Quartet Julian Selody, Ben Wendel Duo, Sarah Neufeld, Richard Reed Parry, Rebecca Noon, and the Urban Science Brass Band all light up the stages at Arts Court. 

▪️ Celebrate the Year of the Snake at the Lunar New Year 2025 Dinner, Karaoke, and DJ Dance Party. 

▪️ Yuk Yuk’s welcomes Jeff Elliott at 7:00 pm and The Horrible Show at 10:00 pm. 

▪️ Visit Nita Beer from noon to 5:00 pm for their 10 year anniversary celebration. 

▪️ The littles will love the Rona Kiddos Workshop at the Hunt Club location. 

▪️ The Manor Park neighbourhood is holding a Skating Party and Chili Cook-off with food, music, and fire. 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm on Thornwood Road. 

▪️ More than 20 vendors are waiting to serve your spiritual and occult needs at the Ottawa Mystic Market. 

▪️ Ottawa Organic Farmers Market runs year round at 3191 Riverside Drive (Riverside United Church), which means that you can eat local produce even in the depths of winter. 

▪️ Black Box Competition: In the final day of the Canadian Culinary Competition, catch the Black Box Competition at 8:00am at Collège La Cité and the Grand Finale Competition starting at 6:00 pm at Rogers Centre Ottawa. A portion of proceeds supports music education, sports opportunities and healthy food for Canadian youth through MusiCounts, Spirit North, Ottawa Network for Education (ONFE) and BGC Ottawa (formerly Boys and Girls Club).

▪️ Shop from more than 50 vendors and check out the free workshop at Square Lemon’s Love Is In The Air Valentine’s Craft Market at Glebe Community Centre. 

▪️ ByTowne Cinema: Babygirl, Vermilgio, A Real Pain

▪️ Mayfair Theatre: The Last Showgirl, The Lodger

Gigs

▪️ Kizaba. National Arts Centre

▪️ Metro Jazz. Art House Café

▪️ Kingfisher, The Lookout, Positive Change. House of TARG

▪️ Donovan Woods. National Arts Centre

▪️ The Lucky Ron Show 39th Anniversary. The Laff

Winterlude’s first Saturday of programming has something for everyone:

▪️ On Sparks Street, art by Abenaki and Métis artist Jessica Somers will be transformed into a majestic ice carving. Sample traditional tea and bannock at noon. Hear the story of the Discovery of Sinzibuckwud (Maple Syrup).

▪️ If you’re in the ByWard Market for Winterlude fun, be sure to visit Adaawewigamig’s Pibòn Fest, where you’ll find Indigenous vendors and food, a hide tanning demo, a winter fashion show, and live performances. 

🆓 Bring a gently used article of clothing to the Rideau Hall Winter Celebration. It’s an afternoon of family fun that includes skating on Canada’s oldest outdoor rink plus winter games from around the world. 

▪️ Enjoy the other kind of skating with the Winterlude 2025 City of Ottawa Roller Skating Day at Lansdowne Park. 

▪️ Road Trip: Sugar Fest at Parc Omega in Montebello, QC welcomes the maple season with activities for the whole family. 

🆓 The free tickets are going fast for Happiness Habits 613’s Community Winter Pentathlon. Book now. 

▪️ Cheer on the participants in the Winterlude Triathlon as they skate 8K on the Rideau Canal, run 5K from Dow’s Lake to the Terry Fox Facility, and ski 6K from Mooney’s Bay to the Terry Fox Facility. 

▪️ Visit more than 40 queer and trans vendors at Little Jo Berry’s 2SLGBTQIA+ Valentine’s Day Market.

▪️ Watch the Grammys broadcast from Avant-Garde Bar. 

▪️ Pick up the Tours of Winters Past booklet at the Canadian Museum of History, and wander the exhibits, looking for clues. 

▪️ Stick around the Québec side of the Ottawa River to check tunnels, snow structures, and slides in Jacques Cartier Park (350 Laurier St., Gatineau).

▪️ The horse-drawn sleigh rides and hot chocolate are free, but you’d better bring cash for the bake sale at the Mechanicsville Winter Festival. 

▪️ Today is the deadline to order Valentine’s treats from Peace By Chocolate. 

▪️ If you’re a Greyhound parent (or you just love them, or any dog for that matter), bring them along to Stray Dog Brewing in Orléans for the Pop-Up Social.

▪️ Aspie Drummer continues his odyssey to beat the Guiness World Record for drumming, with Kids’ Movie Day. He’ll be drumming to film soundtracks from your favourite kids’ movies, and the whole family is invited to dance along. 

▪️ Learn to line dance at DA Studio. 

▪️ Visit the second day of Ottawa Mystic Market. 

🆓 The Mini Pow Wow at the Canadian Museum of History runs 11:00 am to 4:00 pm with drumming, dancing, and beautiful handmade creations by local Indigenous artisans. 

▪️ ByTowne Cinema: Hard Truths, The Brutalist, Anora 

▪️ Mayfair Theatre: Flow, The Room Next Door, The Substance 

Gigs

▪️ Sunday Night Revue. Irene’s Pub

▪️ Lulu Lamontagne. LIVE on Elgin

▪️ Acoustic Coffee House. Red Bird

▪️ 56 Blvd Blues. Atomic Rooster

▪️ ByTowne Cinema: Hard Truths, The Brutalist 

▪️ Mayfair Theatre: The Last Showgirl, The Room Next Door, Bram Stoker’s Dracula 

Gigs

▪️ Botfly, They Grieve, Moratorium. LIVE on Elgin

▪️Daisy Train Karaoke. 27 Club

▪️ Mdou Moctar. Bronson Centre

▪️ Open Mic. Art house Café

▪️ The Five Star Monday Band. The Laff

▪️ Karaoke Mondaze. Atomic Rooster

▪️ Maker Feed Co visits Chile at its next tasting event on Wednesday March 5. Enjoy five dishes with five wine pairings. 

▪️ It isn’t too late to make plans for Family Day. Music educators Monkey Rock Music are going back in time to 1984 for a family concert at Overflow Brewing on Monday February 17. Dig out that crusty jar of Dippity Do and tease your hair - dressing up is all part of the fun. 

The president of the Lowertown Community Association, Sylvie Bigras, has some suggestions on how to fix ByTown Market. They include finding homes for homeless people, closing one of the three shelters, pedestrianize more streets, bring in more diverse businesses – not just bars and restaurants, and make it affordable for farmers to once again sell their products in the Market.